Friday, July 27, 2012

The Mind Blowing Bendigo Show Experience

Alien Bunny in Gilderoy

There was no blogging by me last week Friday: the first time in a looooong time I did not keep up the every Friday blog rhythm. I had a very good excuse though: I was at the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show in the Flower Power Bunny Shed setting up the bunny shop and meeting an amazing amount of wonderful, enthusiastic Fibre and yarn fans! It was FANTASTIC! But before I go into that I will start with the beginning……..enter curvy lines on your screen, spacey music because we are going back in time………….

You may not realise this, but I’m really quite shy….okay are you sitting down on your chair again after you fell down laughing? Yes, it is true! Really. I grew up as an only child, having to take care of my mum & dad and submersed myself in art and music. It was my saving grace. I’m sure that every crafter or artist goes through periods of doubt, you know: am I doing this right etc. Especially when you offer your souls work for sale. Will it sell? Will people like it? And no matter how confident you may seem, there is always doubt that rises up in your mind as if a little anti craft devil is sitting on your shoulder. Ofcourse it doesn’t help when that anti craft devil is helped along a bit by people doing spiteful things or talking behind your back. It is hard to keep crafting or creating when you do not get any feedback. Nobody is a self-sustaining vessel. We are all part of a bigger picture and we all function in unison. Just like there is a reaction for every action. What am I getting at? Well, I’ll tell you: for the last 7 months I have been preparing for the Bendigo Show full on as well as doing my other stuff like the Sydney Royal world record event, the hand knitters guild, several guild spin ins, work shops and ofcourse the Friday blog updates, not to mention that life goes on at the IxCHeL farm as well and animals need taking care of . I was telling everybody that there was a BB and an AB (= Before Bendigo and After Bendigo) and to tell you the truth I was on the brink of exhaustion working my proverbial bunny B*tt off. I thought I ‘d collapse in a heap after Bendigo show and take it easy for at least a couple of days. You know book, read, bed, pamper, have a drink, relax. Then the Bendigo Show happened ….I got to Bendigo on Thursday morning and started to set up in the flower power bunny shed. Last year it had taken me 10 hours to set up and this year I was a bit faster…it only took me 9 hours, but then I just couldn’t stand idly by while others were setting up so I helped a little bit here and there. I must admid by Thursday night I was absolutely exhausted. Friday morning was spent “littering”the show grounds with Super bear posters and bunnies to tell people there was Craft Life beyond the BIG commercial sheds and there were exciting things happening at the Flower Power Bunny Shed. Then the First Day of the Bendigo Show started. And oh Boy did it start ! it was as if the flood gates opened and thousands of people just marched straight to the Flower Shed. It was amazing ! I cannot tell you enough how BIG and how much enthusiasm and Love just exploded onto the Bendigo Show Ground. If ever there was a time that some people said sarcastically “nobody will come” , they are now proven totally and utterly wrong and can pick themselves up from the floor after being trampled on by the thousands of enthused Bendigo show crafters running to get into the show gates.
It was truly and utterly mind blowing. I have been hugged, kissed, cuddled, asked advice, given the most amazing preents from people I don’t even know ! I have received so so much love and enthusiasm by so so many people who admire the bunnies and what I do it has been truly and utterly MIND BLOWING! I still have a hard time coming down from that wooshy cloud (yes I know Im mentioning THAT again eh…eh..lol..don’t worry the wooshses are coming..;) ) The Bendigo show was a full on fibre fun and love for craft filled three days and it was the best show I have ever experienced. I should be totally exhausted….dead…tired…comatose even….instead, I feel invigorated, high as a kite, happy and so extremely grateful !!!
The Alien Bunny Felted hat you see on the top of my blog today deserves a special mention: in the middle of being super busy talking to people and enabling them happily , this woman comes up to me, holds my arm , staring me in the eyes and says in a serious voice “You don’t know me, but ..I love your blog, I love your bunnies , I love your stories…and….I have come all the way from Illawarra (Nsw)to give this to you” and she hands me the most gorgeously funky felted bunny hat I have ever set my eyes upon…ofcourse I teared up….as you do…I was totally amazed ! Thank you so much Melinda from the Illawarra Feltmakers !!! You are an absolute treasure !!!! Thankyou from the bottom of my heart ! and this goes for all of you who have stood by me in the last years, have laughed and cried with me, snaffled and drooled with me and most importantly have shared your love and enthusiasm with me. We as crafters would not be able to survive and create the things we HAVE to create because our soul tells us to without one another. We are one big family and we know that we will never ever get rich from what we create in any monetary value, but we get a much better deal. We get a wonderful loving crafting Universe where dreams can come true. No, we are not in Kansas anymore Toto…lol. Enjoy the ride, enjoy the journey and enjoy what you and your crafting family create every single day. Because you are special and Love and passion conquers all ! Rabbit on !
Here are some photos for those who sadly could not make it to this years Bendigo Show and for those of you who visited here’s the proof that it was AMAZING FUN:

I’m sure there was an alien ship hovering over the stall when I finally set up and took this photo late Thursday night….;)

Super Bear in the foreground

as Marg Bozik so aptly put it “and for all of you who thought she did not look like her avatar”…rofl…here is me hanging up balloons an streamers and super bunny Bear posters as a bit of a “yellow brick road”to the Flower Power Bunny Shed….;)

with Louise and Annet (yes there were prizes to be won when you dressed as a bunny! ;) )

Oh look! some Western Australian Bunnies at the Show ! ….;)

How to have fun with Pre felt: just cuddle ! With Erin Tilley and ?

Wooshes finally exposed at the Bendigo Show ;)

the extra big Navajo Churro display at the show with the history and photos

For this weeks blog I have some camelbunny silk tops and some Wooshes ! Now what is a woosh? Well, where to start?
The life of a Woosh starts out as hand dyed cuddled fleece and fibre and down and glitz and Angelina with some textures like hand dyed wool nepps and feathers thrown in the mix. All this is handpicked into submission to become an amazing cloud of gorgeous fibre blends ready to be spun up as an amazing yarn or felted or embellished to make something extraordinary.
Every Woosh is different. After the Wild Woosh comes out of the Picker or the Woosh machine aas I call it, it is contained in a special tube so that when you want to work with it you just have to start pulling your fibre from the top and you can work with it while the rest of the could stays in the tube. You will not get blinged, fluffed or covered in fibre while you are spinniung because the wild woosh is totally contained. You can just pull out what you need . when you gently pull the fibres out of the tube you can see that the woosh is connected to the rest of the cloud inside, so if you wat you can just have the woosh tube next to you while you spin or have it on your lap while spinning and your wooshy cloud will transform itself totally into a gorgeous yarn. Ofcourse for all of you wooshy liberators, you can free the Woosh from its container, exposing the wooshy cloud for what it is: a huge airy mountain of hand dyed fibre heaven !

woosh escape !

the woosh escape is getting out of hand !!!

A Woosh in the wild taking over my dining table !!!!

Before I go on with enabling, I have an announcement to make.

At the Bendigo Show anybody who spent over $75 dollars received a ticket and went into the draw to win a fabulous IxCHeL Fibre/Yarn Prize worth $150 and there are also club memberships to be given to the lucky prize winners!!!
Drumrolllll!!!!

Here are the lucky winners of the Bendigo Sheep and Wool show 2012 IxCHeL prize draw:

Winner of the $150 IxCHel Prize pack is

BERNIE SAMMON !!!!!!! (Vegemite on Ravelry) congratulations Bernie!

A huge parcel will be sent your way next week !!!

Winner of a 2 month membership of the IxCHeL fibre club is

SARAH ANDERSON !!! (Charlisa on ravelry) Congratulations!
Your club parcel will be sent out on monday!

Winner if the Yarn Club for two months is…

SONIA YOUNG (Sonia on Ravelry) YEAH !!!!
Your yarn club of July will be sent out to you next Monday!

Congratulations everybody ! and thank you so so much for visiting my stall at the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show ! Rabbit on !
Well, Have fun looking at what I have been dyeing and whooshing for you !

How To Order:You can email me on ixchel at rabbit dot com dot au or message me on facebook or ravelry where I am Ixchelbunny. I will email you right back with all your order details and payment methods. Any questions? Please don’t hesitate to ask! Always happy to enable.

Thank you so much for your help and support !

(((HUGS)))

Charly

Camelbunny Silk Tops

baby camel - peace silk-angora bunny (50-45-5) 50 grams AU$19

Hand dyed with passion , spins like a dream with softness, lustre and gorgeous new colourways! Amazing to spin and felt and heaven to wear ! !

Dates to Remember:

Bunny Spin in at the Ixchel Fibre Farm (11am-4pm)Every Third Saturday and every fourth Thursday of the month!

Saturday August 18th, 11am-4pm and

Thursday August 23rd,) 11am – 4pm

Bring a plate to share your wheel or spindle, knitting or crochet, yourself and a smile and have a fun day out amongst bunnies and friends ! Please contact me to secure a spot ! Bunny food like cabbage, bok choi or broccoli is always welcome as well ! : the bunnies will cuddle you more for it ;D

Ixchel is an Australian Fibre Farm in the Yarra Valley in Victoria, breeding their own fluffy animals pesticide free and organic. Charly McCafferty (Ixchel Bunny) does all the spinning, dyeing, knitting and weaving and loving every second of it: Angora Rabbit, Cashmere, Mohair, Merino, Alpaca, Camel or even Yak.Paul McCafferty is constantly juggling work on the fibre farm and is the brain behind making all the animal housing and organising the farm harmoneously.
Email:Ixchel@rabbit.com.au

About Me

Email: ixchelbunny@yahoo.com.au
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Born in the Netherlands, part Dutch and Native American, brought up in Europe, Canada ,the States and Latin America and now living in Australia, I see myself as a world citizen enjoying every moment that this life is giving me. Having such a diverse background I feel very priviledged on how it makes my art (be it paintings or wearable art) so universal and yet so special.